This would probably be a much smaller story, said Ron Chusid in Liberal Values, if Edwards had been smart enough to admit “everything once his affair with Rielle Hunter was confirmed.” But he made things worse for himself by denying everything, which guaranteed “a steady stream of news items” as evidence trickled out, like Wednesday’s National Enquirer report of a secret DNA test proving his paternity.

Once the details did start coming, said Allahpundit in Hot Air, after the Enquirer dragged “big media” to the story “kicking and screaming,” it became that “rare scandal where pretty much everything was exactly what it looked like and played out exactly as you’d expect.” Edwards is the father, he apparently paid “hush money” to hide that fact, and "the dominoes began falling” when the money stopped and his “fall guy,” Andrew Young, started to squeal.

Rielle Hunter isn’t blameless in this, said Rita Watson in Examiner.com. She apparently “believed she had a future with John,” and these days a “love child” is rarely a mistake and “nearly always deliberate or deceptive.” But after Rick Pitino’s abortion payment, Jude Law’s new baby, and “let’s not even talk about Mel Gibson’s girlfriend”, there’s a bigger question: Don’t Edwards and his fellow big shots “know how to condom-up?”